Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the government is taking to reduce gambling harm in Lancashire.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Those experiencing gambling-related harm in England can access specialist treatment through specialist NHS Gambling Clinics available in every region of the country, including the Northern Gambling Service. There is also a range of support through the National Gambling Support Network.
The Government has introduced a statutory levy on gambling operators to improve and expand the research, prevention and treatment of gambling harms. The levy will raise around £100 million in funding to deliver priority projects and services across research, prevention and treatment, which together we hope will reduce gambling-related harms across Great Britain. The statutory gambling levy is now in force, and funding will start flowing later this year.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to help improve access to sport for (a) children and (b) young people from disadvantaged backgrounds in the Fylde constituency.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Every child should have the opportunity to play sport and do regular physical activity including those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The Prime Minister recently announced a new School Sport Partnerships approach and a new Enrichment Framework for schools to ensure all young people have equal access to high-quality sport and extracurricular activity. The ongoing independent expert-led review of the curriculum will ensure that all children can engage with a broad range of subjects, including PE and sport.
On 20 June 2025, the Culture Secretary announced that following the Spending Review, at least £400 million is going to be invested into new and upgraded grassroots sport facilities in communities right across the UK, supporting the Government's Plan for Change. We will now work closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what each community needs, including for children and young people, and then set out further plans.
In the last financial year, 2024-25, Sport England, our Arm’s Length Body for community sport, invested £11,750 into the Fylde constituency to improve access to sport and physical activity.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the sustainability of (a) local radio and (b) news services in Lancashire; and what steps she is taking to support them.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Sustainability of local journalism across the country is an area of particular concern for this Government, including local radio and news services in Lancashire. The Government understands the important work that local media does across the UK, including local outlets and radio such as the Lancs Live and Central Radio. We are developing a Local Media Strategy, in recognition of the importance of this vital sector. Our vision is a thriving local media that can continue to play an invaluable role as a key channel of trustworthy information at local level, reporting on the issues that matter to communities, reflecting their contributions and perspectives, and helping to foster a self-confident nation in which everyone feels that their contribution is part of an inclusive national story. In terms of support for local community radio, the Government has announced a major uplift in community radio funding, which will help stations in need of support to invest in staff, train volunteers, develop business plans, and reach wider audiences.
We are working across Government and with other stakeholders as the Strategy develops, and we recently held a roundtable discussion with local news editors to discuss our planned approach and collaboration with industry on the Strategy. An industry working group has now been set up to consider the issues in more detail and we will announce more in the coming months.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support libraries in (a) Fylde constituency and (b) Lancashire.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Public libraries are funded by local authorities and each local authority is responsible for assessing the needs of their local communities and designing a library service to meet those needs within available resources.
The Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 requires the Secretary of State to “superintend and promote the improvement of the public library service provided by local authorities in England”. To assist this function the department regularly monitors and reviews changes to local authority library service provision, and engages with local authorities to discuss issues related to their respective library service.
I understand that as at 31 December 2023, Lancashire County Council’s statutory library provision consisted of 64 static libraries (63 run by the local authority and one community run) and a mobile library service consisting of five vehicles. Six of the static libraries are located in the Fylde constituency.
The Secretary of State announced in February 2025 a further £5.5 million of the Libraries Improvement Fund for 2025-26 to enable library services across England to invest in a range of projects to upgrade buildings and technology. Lancashire County Council has previously received around £165,000 from this fund to support a project at Burnley library.
The government is committed to getting local government back on its feet. The final Local Government Finance Settlement for 2025-26 makes available over £69 billion for local government, which is a 6.8% cash terms increase in councils' Core Spending Power on 2024-25.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support amateur theatre in (a) Fylde constituency and (b) Lancashire.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The government supports the arts predominantly through Arts Council England (ACE). Through their main funding programme, the 2023-2027 National Portfolio Investment Programme, ACE is providing over £100 million in grants per year to around 195 theatres across the country. Across all their funding programmes, including lottery schemes, for the financial year 2024-25, ACE awarded around £300 million to theatres/theatre based organisations.
While the Arts Council does not have a funding classification for ‘amateur’ theatre specifically, in 2024 they supported the Spot On Festival in Poulton-le-Fylde with over £50k of funding. Spot On works to bring professional performing arts to village halls, libraries, pubs and open spaces across Lancashire. As a combined arts festival, they worked with 30 professional performing arts shows and 8 local groups and provided a number of outreach activities as part of the festival, including drama workshops. Details of all Arts Council Funding in Fylde and Lancashire can be found on their website here: https://culture.localinsight.org/#/map
Amateur Theatre groups across Lancashire and Fylde are able to apply to Arts Council England’s open funding programme, National Lottery Project Grants, which provides over £100 million of support annually to individuals and organisations.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is planning to take to ensure that the Creative Foundations Fund is allocated (a) efficiently and (b) equitably across regions.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Creative Foundations Fund will invest £85 million to support arts and cultural organisations across England to resolve urgent issues with their estates. The fund was developed in partnership with ACE, drawing on its knowledge of the arts and culture sector. With urgent need for this funding, the Creative Foundations Fund will support organisations ready to commence capital works in taking this vital step. All applicants will be notified of the outcome of their full application and funding committed by Arts Council England by 31 March 2026.
We understand the scale of need being felt across the country after fourteen years of underinvestment by the previous Government. Theis Government is encouraging organisations across the country to apply for a share of the fund, including theatres, performing arts venues, galleries, grassroots music venues and contemporary arts centres. Funding will be distributed to ensure maximum impact across England, supporting the Government’s Plan for Change which aims to support economic growth and increase opportunities for people across the country.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure that Fylde constituency will be affected by the Creative Industries Sector Plan, announced on 23 June 2025.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
DCMS recognises that there are creative industries clusters and micro clusters in every part of the UK, all of which are crucial to the delivery of our Growth Mission.
The new 10-year plan will tackle barriers to growth and maximise opportunities across the Creative Industries sector, with the aim of making the UK the number one destination for creativity and innovation by 2035. It contains a range of new measures including supporting access to finance, innovation and skills which will benefit creative businesses across the UK, including in the Fylde constituency.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what funding is available for (a) local authorities and (b) other organisations to (i) maintain and (ii) develop (A) heritage and (B) leisure buildings.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Organisations are able to apply for funding to maintain and develop heritage buildings through the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s Arms-Length Bodies.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund awards grants ranging from £3,000 to over £5 million for projects that conserve and enhance heritage, making it accessible to everyone. Last year it invested £330 million. Historic England, the government’s statutory advisor on the historic environment, offers grants for the repair and conservation of historic buildings, monuments, and landscapes that are of national importance.
In February of this year, the Secretary of State announced an additional £20 million in funding for the heritage sector, more than doubling the support for Heritage at Risk to £15 million.The Architectural Heritage Fund is delivering the £4.85m Heritage Revival Fund, which supports community organisations to take ownership of, adapt and reuse heritage assets. In addition, DCMS directly funds the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, which provides grants towards VAT paid on repairs and maintenance to the nation's listed places of worship.
The Government provides the majority of funding for grassroots sport through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England - which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding in areas of greatest need to tackle inactivity levels through community-led solutions. Additional funding for grassroots sport facilities is also provided through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme, which is delivering £98 million in funding across the UK in 2025/26.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has made funding available for the repair of public amenities damaged during Storm Arwen.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We have not made specific funding available for public amenities damaged during Storm Arwen, but responsibilities for public amenities fall to many departments, each of which has different arrangements for repairs. DCMS, for instance, funds Arts Council England to deliver the Museum Estate and Development Fund, which is open to accredited museums across England and has distributed over £87m since 2021, with a further £25m due to be allocated in 25/26.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she is providing additional funding for local authorities to help (a) maintain and (b) develop leisure facilities.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises the importance of ensuring public access to leisure facilities which are vital spaces for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy, and which play an important role within communities.
The ongoing responsibility of providing access to public leisure facilities lies at local authority level with funding levels set by MHCLG as part of the Local Government Finance Settlement. The Government encourages local authorities to make investments which offer the right opportunities and facilities for the communities they serve, investing in sport and physical activity with a place-based approach, to meet the needs of individual communities.
The majority of Government funding for grassroots sport clubs is through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, which invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding each year.
On 20 June 2025, the Culture Secretary announced that following the Spending Review, at least £400 million is going to be invested into new and upgraded grassroots sport facilities in communities right across the UK, supporting the Government's Plan for Change. We will now work closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what each community needs and then set out further plans.